This invention relates to overhead guards for use on vertical lifting machines, such as warehouse fork lifts or high stackers, where a load is lifted above the head of the machine operator and could present a safety hazard to the operator.
Some vertical lifting machines are of a type where the operator walks behind and controls a steering carriage of a self-propelled apparatus. This manually-operated steering carriage permits the vertical lifting machine to be maneuvered in narrow aisles or other close quarters. Such machines are ordinarily not equipped with overhead guards, as a fixed overhead guard would increase the overall length of the apparatus, thereby significantly limiting its maneuverability.